What’s a Google doodle? You’ve likely seen many of them – without even realizing that’s what they’re called. According to Google, “Doodles are the fun, surprising, and sometimes spontaneous changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers, and scientists.” That means everyone who visits Google.com to search for something – anything – on the web sees the logo change.
For example, if you visited the Google homepage on July 20th (the first day of competition in the Women’s World Cup), you saw an animated logo of two soccer boots kicking a ball back and forth with the second “O” in “Google” replaced with a soccer ball, rather than Google’s standard, non-animated logo.
The acupuncture profession is hoping to capitalize on the doodle’s prominent web positioning and astronomical reach to raise awareness of the power of acupuncture. An acupuncture-themed Google doodle on World Acupuncture Awareness Day (Nov. 16, 2023) would be an unprecedented step in promoting this year’s message, “Acupuncture Changes Lives.”
How can you help? It’s as easy as signing the petition at https://www.change.org/WorldAcupunctureAwarenessDay. In so doing, you “request [the Google doodle team’s] support in recognizing and promoting World Acupuncture Awareness Day on November 16th through the use of a Google Doodle.”
According to Dr. Aram Akopyan, communications director for the European Traditional Chinese Medicine Association (and initiator of the petition), a minimum of 3,000 signatures is required for the petition to be declared to Google. If accepted, the doodle will be displayed on Nov. 16 on the Google homepage in relevant countries (as is the case with every doodle Google creates) – although with Acupuncture Awareness Day being a global event, Dr. Akopyan hopes the doodle will be seen worldwide.
Keep in mind that this isn’t the only way you can increase awareness on Nov. 16. Consider using social media and in-clinic marketing to promote World Acupuncture Awareness Day, announce special one-day offers, and spread the word throughout your community: Acupuncture changes lives!
In addition, Dr. Akopyan notes that several great resources are available on the ETCMA website, including:
Global Map: A unique way for practitioners to contribute and "add their voice" to the effort to promote acupuncture and TCM around the world. Record a short personal video promoting acupuncture and add yourself to the global map. (See etcma.org/add-your-voice/ for details; simple scripts are available to make it easy to record / add a video.)
Animated Short: An animated history of acupuncture in shareable video format. The video highlights the development and migration of acupuncture around the world. Watch and then download / share the video at https://youtu.be/5fwJpS26Gts.
Downloadable Graphics: A free, downloadable library of relevant icons and call-to-action clipart that can be used as print or email media to promote World Acupuncture Awareness Day. Available at etcma.org/download-graphics/.
Chronic pain afflicts over 20% of the adult population. Sadly, most MDs have essentially no education in treating pain, beyond offering a few toxic medications. Then they tend to steer people with pain away from those health practitioners who are trained. This puts the acupuncture community on the front lines for addressing this epidemic.
When the body is going through a stressful event, the sympathetic system is activated. This activation will help the body with a life-threatening situation. If this state is activated for prolonged periods of time, it starts to consume energy. These traumatic events that generate stressors in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) will eventually become internalized.
| Digital Exclusive
One of the things that makes acupuncture so difficult to measure is that the medicine actually does contain some esoteric aspects. There have been numerous studies that demonstrate the neurochemical reasoning behind why acupuncture points stimulate the autonomic nervous system to enact change However, not all the benefits of TCM can easily be measured by randomized, controlled trials. But does that make them fundamentally and definitively untrue?
| Digital Exclusive